


Three Small Words

by LittleDidTheyKnow



Series: The Way It Could Have Been [1]
Category: Daredevil (TV)
Genre: #NotGivingUp, #SaveDaredevil, #WorthTheWait, #fandomwithoutfear, Continuation, F/M, First Moments, Fluff, Post-Defenders, Pre-There Will Be Time, Save Daredevil, The Way It Could Have Been
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-14
Updated: 2018-02-14
Packaged: 2019-03-18 23:17:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13691913
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LittleDidTheyKnow/pseuds/LittleDidTheyKnow
Summary: Thanks to their first beginning, Matt Murdock and Karen Page could never call their relationship "easy." That time in their lives had several negative terms attached to it, including, but not limited to, "painful" and "disappointing."But once they get a second chance, things click into place almost instantly and they find that their other commitments are difficult, but not the one they made to each other.Most of the time.





	Three Small Words

**Author's Note:**

> This is one of a few one-shots from a collection called "The Way it Could Have Been."
> 
> It takes place Post-Defenders and Pre-There Will Be Time (http://bit.ly/2BZ9pDu), which, I guess would be considered a very different Season 3 of Daredevil that leads to time travel.
> 
> I'm posting this early because I wanted to put some Karedevil out into the world for Valentine's Day.

The first time he said it, he was sleeping

She was leaning in the corner of the couch with her legs open so that he could lay against her chest as they listened to a movie.

Once he was out, which was a very frequent occurrence on their date nights, she kept the audio descriptions on without even thinking about how she no longer needed them. She massaged his head and he made small happy sounds as he sank even more into her. He'd had a long day of work followed by a short stint as Daredevil, and she picked a movie he'd heard a million times knowing what the result would be.

She had been the reason he came home so early. It was even more difficult to stay away when he knew she was waiting for him. So was working and showering and pretty much every task that took them away from each other. But he didn't tell her that. 

Karen moved one hand from his head to his chest, and his head sank against her shoulder. She kissed his forehead and breathed him in. They were a short time into their relationship's second beginning, but it didn't matter. His smell brought a smile to her face every remaining day they had together. It felt like home.

"I love you beautiful," he said dreamily. The words hung in the air as her eyes opened wide as she looked at him to see if he was awake.

He didn't move. She shook him slightly as her eyes watered, but he kept sleeping. She wrote it off as unintentional sleep-talking, knowing he was exhausted. But the smile didn't leave her face for days.

*****

The second time came a week later.

He had acted the same and didn't bring it up again, causing her to believe that maybe she had been too exhausted that night as well and that there might be a possibility that she'd made it up or something.

Karen sat in a diner scrolling through her emails without opening them or reading the subject headings. She didn't even look up as he arrived at their booth.

"You've got to be kidding me, Murdock."

He was late. 45 minutes late to be exact. It wouldn't be a problem if it hadn't been the fourth consecutive meal he either missed or barely made an appearance with her and she barely had time to spend with him before heading off to work. 

"I'm so sorry, Karen. I can't believe I overslept."

His face was covered in guilt and she could tell he'd barely taken the time to get dressed before rushing over. His shirt was half-tucked and his third and fifth buttons were undone. And his hair was an entirely different story. She'd never seen it stick out in so many different directions. Normally she'd laugh, but she was aggravated at the fact that she was going to have to leave soon. 

She kept her composure, which was surprising considering the top item on her list of pet peeves was missing time with him. 

“You can’t _believe_ you overslept? _Really_?”

He couldn't help but smile at her annoyance. "I guess after the fifth time of oversleeping, that doesn’t really hold, does it?”

“5th? Try 20th.”

“Well if you’re counting work, that really isn’t fair.”

“You’re right,” she said as their food was delivered. She had given up on him a half hour before. “Why would I count all the times you left me hanging at your _job_?”

She threw a small pancake across the table as their server walked away and he caught it, rolling it and dipping it into some syrup before taking a bite with a smile on his face.

She rolled her eyes and smirked at him, a smile breaking through her aggravated gaze. He sure moved from self-deprecating to cocky with great speed, and it made it harder to be mad at him. The man was infuriatingly lovable. 

“You really are adorable when you’re angry, Karen. It’s one of the many reasons that I love you.”

She angrily broke a piece of crispy bacon in half and dropped it on her plate. “Don't you dare think you can get out of this by saying I’m adorable, Matt. It’s barely a compliment. You know I wouldn’t be half as angry if you hadn’t kept me from food. I shouldn’t have ordered for you, you don’t deserve it.”

He smiled from ear to ear. “That smile won’t work either.” He knew she was lying, but he let that go.

“Did you hear what I just said?”

“You mean the condescending remark about me being ‘adorable’ when I’m mad at you? You think you’re so smooth, Murdock, but you really know how to get under someone’s skin-”

His smile got even wider.

“ _Wait… What did you say after that_?”

“I don’t think you’re finished yelling at me,” he said waving his hand with the pancake still rolled between his fingers. “Go on.”

“Murdock, I swear to God…”

He smiled lovingly at her as he reached his across the table and grabbed her hand. Both of their eyes were filled with happy tears.

“I love you Karen Page.” 

Her mouth hung open. 

“More coffee, sweetheart?” Karen didn't even look at their server, who was beginning to understand that she'd interrupted something. 

Karen blinked her eyes.

“She’d love some more coffee,” Matt said. “Thank you.”

  



End file.
